Originally posted by gofour3 The Pentax K Series KX or KM are very reliable.
Phil.
That would be my first suggestion as well for the Pentax line. The K-series bodies are direct descendants of the long-lived Spotmatic line. In fact, the KM is basically a K-mount Spotmatic with open-aperture metering. I own a KX.
After that I would recommend the ME Super and Super Program, based on the general reliability of their electronic shutters, their feature set, and low price. The general rule of thumb on the electronic shutter cameras is that if they are clean and work at all, it is highly likely that all features work as new and that they will continue to work for a long time into the future. Change the seals and you are good to go. The flip side is when they die, they are generally pretty dead. There is very little to adjust and repair requires a donor body for replacement parts. I own a Super Program.
In regards to the Ricoh products, I must offer a general disclaimer up front. I am the local Ricoh fanboy and have no problem recommending any of their late-70s through early mid-80s bodies. The main problem is keeping the naming straight. Most of the Ricoh cameras of that era were based on two main body types. One has a tall shutter speed dial and the other has a flattened dial. Both have durable vertical travel metal shutters. It is my understanding that the tall dial bodies have mechanical or electro-mechanical shutters while the flat dial bodies have fully electronic shutters.
So far, so good. Here is where things get complex. Ricoh had two main lines. The XR-n cameras tended to be full-featured with the KR-n cameras tending to be less so. The number designation is not a good indicator of the rank or feature set. Both tall dial and flat dial bodies carry both XR-n and KR-n labels. Ricoh mixed and matched features liberally such that I gave up long ago trying to figure out what features are present on what bodies. Did I mention that Sears sold the same cameras with their own naming scheme?
It is enough to say that all feature metal chassis (cast/machined aluminum alloy on the flat dial bodies) with polycarbonate shells. All have durable Copal or Seiko metal shutters. All have bright viewfinders with both microprism and diagonal split image focus aids. The flat dial models are more compact. All are compatible with any K-mount lens ever made that has an aperture ring. As with Pentax, all may be adapted to use M42 screwmount lenses. I can personally vouch for and recommend the models that own, the XR-2s (tall-dial) and XR7 (flat dial). By extension, I feel that the XR-1 (fully manual, equivalent to Pentax KX*), XR-1s and XR-2 (all tall dial) models are also worthy of consideration. All four are sturdy and very low-priced and equal in my mind to similarly featured Pentax models of the same era.
The XR-2s is my "go-to" 35mm film body.
If you find a Ricoh listed for sale, your best resource is probably the Butkus site for camera manuals:
Ricoh Camera instruction manuals
He has most of the manuals for all the Ricoh/Sears variants and the manuals have a table of all supported features.
Steve
* Ok...I admit that the KX has a more sensitive meter, but the XR-1 has faster flash sync. Both cameras have almost identical dimensions, though the Ricoh is lighter.
Note: The tall dial Ricoh bodies with self timers generally have a mechanical mechanism. With time this can become stiff with the result that many of these cameras have broken self-timer levers.